The 2008 models of the Hyundai Veracruz for the first year that these vehicles arrived on the scene and their towing capacity matched that of the Santa Fe's, but the only difference was that these vehicles only had one single engine option to choose from.
These SUVs were able to achieve a maximum capacity rating of up to 3,500 lbs., no matter what trim level you had. You did need to have one specific piece of equipment installed in order to achieve this higher weight rating, otherwise you had a substantially reduce rating of around 1,600 pounds, instead.
You should read your owner's manual thoroughly and follow all of Hyundai's recommendations. It is the most valuable tool at your disposal about your vehicle.
Overall Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2008 Hyundai Veracruz range from 1,650-3,500 lbs., which was only dependent on whether the trailer you were using had trailer brakes equipped and that was it. To be honest, there wasn't really a range there were just two capacities listed and it was either 1,650 lbs. or 3,500 lbs.
The Tow Chart:
With only one engine option available for the vehicle, the tow chart for the 2008 Hyundai Veracruz was quite simple. Looking at the chart, we only see two different trailer weight ratings listed, as well as the tongue load weight rating for those ratings, which represents approximately 10% of the trailer's weight.
If we look to the left of the table, we can see two rows that are labeled with and without brake, which is referring to your trailer, not your vehicle. If the trailer you were using had its own brakes, then your maximum trailer weight rating was more than double than if you were not using trailer brakes.
Comparing The Data:
By Trim Level: There were still three trim levels that were offered for the Veracruz models, just like we saw with the Santa Fe and Tucsons and they were the same three trim levels, at least their name was the same, that is.
I decided to break down the data into what each trim level was capable of, but since there was only one single engine available for these vehicles, the specs were the same across the board for all trim levels.
- GLS: 1,650-3,500 lbs.
- SE: 1,650-3,500 lbs.
- Limited: 1,650-3,500 lbs.
By Engine Options: Like I already mentioned, there was only one engine available and that engine was a 3.8 liter engine that came in a V6 type of configuration.
- 3.8L (V6): 1,650-3,500 lbs.
Other Important Information...
There we're a couple of different other pieces of information that I stumbled across while looking through the owner's manual and I wanted to briefly touch on them because they are relevant when using a trailer.
If your trailer does have trailer brakes installed, then you will need to make sure that they conform to Federal and local laws and that they are installed properly. This is basically a summary of what I found and is really the only information I found on trailer brakes for these vehicles other than the unbraked trailer weight that was shown on the chart of 1,650 lbs.
The image below the first one talks about the trailer tongue load weight ratings for these vehicles and Hyundai recommends a 10% tongue load rating, which is referring to the overall weight of your trailer and all of the cargo in your trailer.
The maximum tongue load weight ratings were listed in the chart and were approximately 10% of the maximum towable weight ratings, but that 10% still applies to loads that are under the maximum weight rating.
A Few Helpful Links:
The only two resources I needed to complete all of the research for this article where the owner's manual and the brochure, both of which I linked to below for those of you out there that want to check those resources out more in-depth.
East resource provided me specific data that I needed about these vehicles and each one had their strong points and specific information that I was looking for.